Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties and it’s very difficult to predict the outcome of a match before the last ball is bowled. Once upon a time cricket was a “Gentleman’s game” but now with the advent of T20 cricket the mindset of cricketers have changed totally. They try to think out of the box to unsettle their opposition and try to innovate new things to come out triumphant.
Over the years we have witnessed many great cricketers who with their innovative ideas have outwitted their opposition on several occasions. Playing at international level is itself a big challenge and it’s even more challenging to survive in those conditions.
Batsmen have come out with different innovative ideas to score runs and unsettle the opposition bowlers. Sometimes it’s really tough for a batsman to counter the bowlers when they are on song and it’s even more difficult for a batsman when he is out of form. For all these reasons batsmen have tried to do different things and change their game plan to unsettle the opposition bowlers.
Here we bring you 5 instances when a batsman used innovative ideas to counter the oppositions.
#5 When Sunil Gavaskar played as a left-hander
In the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy 1981-82, Sunil Gavaskar walked out as a left-hand batsman to counter the Karnataka left-arm spinner Raghuram Bhatt who was coiling webs around Bombay’s batsmen. He went to on to score an unbeaten 18 that saved Bombay from outright defeat.
Recalling one of the most unusual innings in his career, Gavaskar said, “The ball was turning square and Raghuram Bhat was pretty much unplayable on that surface. Since he was a left-hand orthodox spinner getting the ball to turn and bounce sharply away from the right-handers, I thought that the way to counter that was by playing left handed where the ball would turn and bounce but hit the body harmlessly (without the risk of getting out leg before wicket).”
“I could understand the adverse reactions”. “It was felt that it was done in pique, but it was nothing like that at all. I felt I had zero chance against Raghu batting right-handed, and since the match was already decided in Karnataka’s favour, I tried the tactic. If the match was in the balance, I certainly would not have batted left-handed. Also, please remember I batted left handed only against Raghuram Bhat. When a right-hand spinner (B Vijayakrishna) came along, I switched to batting right handed again.”Gavaskar added.
#4 When Dennis Lillee came out with an Aluminium bat
Though Dennis Lillee was not known for his batting but on this occasion, he was in the headlines for using an unconventional cricket bat named the “Combat”. The bat was made from aluminium and it was totally different from the conventional wooden bat.
The Aluminium bat was the brainchild of Graham Monaghan, a close friend of Lillee and a former club cricketer. Though Monaghan’s idea was to use this inexpensive bat in schools and other developing countries, but in December 1979, Dennis Lillee decided to walk out with this unorthodox piece of equipment in the middle of a Test match against England at Perth.
In fact, Lillee was Monaghan’s business partner and he later revealed in his autobiography that the gimmick was purely a marketing exercise. Lillee had already used the aluminium bat 12 days earlier against West Indies but the Windies bowlers weren’t bothered that much as he was dismissed cheaply.
When Greg Chappel saw Lillee wielding his aluminium bat in the nets he wasn’t too concerned. When eventually Lillee walked in with a Combat, Aussie captain Greg Chappel turned to 12th man Hogg and said, “Mate, get Dennis’s willow bat and at the end of the over go out and bring the aluminium bat back.”
Despite this Lille kept on batting with his aluminium bat but when he drove Ian Botham pretty well and the ball failed to reach the boundary Greg Chapel was furious as he thought Lillee had hit the ball well enough to go for four and his stunt was costing them runs. He turned to Hogg again and said, “Hoggy, get out there and get the bloody thing back at the end of this over.”
Hogg wasn’t willing to go so Chappel himself entered the ground with a wooden willow. In the meantime opposition captain also complained that the bat was damaging the leather ball. Lillee eventually threw away the aluminium bat in disgust and picked up the wooden willow.
#3 When Mathew Hayden played with a Mongoose bat
Mathew Hayden first launched the Mongoose bat in an IPL match in 2010 between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils. He had always wielded the bat like a club but this was something very different which wasn’t seen in professional cricket before. With a big handle and a small blade, the mongoose bat looked silly on his bare hands.
In fact, at first, it just didn’t look right. It was assumed that he would definitely mistime one or would fail to reach out to a spinner. There was also a possibility of a run out while putting in a dive but neither of this happened.
The first shot that Hayden played with the mongoose bat was a let down as he went for a wild heave and got a lucky single on the leg side. The general consensus was that you can’t time a cricket ball at pace with that toothpick but what transpired next left everyone bemused. He smashed Rajat Bhatia all-round the park and the bowler was left scratching his head.
Tillekeratne Dilshan came in for the next over and there was no respite for him either. He struck 3 sixes in that over to dismiss any doubts regarding the essentiality of the mongoose bat.
The Mongoose bat didn’t restrict Hayden in any way what so ever. Moreover, with the long handle, he kept smashing the ball longer and further. It was the perfect remedy for the Aussie to return back to form and help Chennai canter home. Hayden kept on using the Mongoose bat time and again during the tournament but apart from Hayden no one has tried using this willow in professional cricket.
#2 When Lendl Simmons batted with a single Leg Guard (Pad)
A never-seen-before-incident occurred during the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League when Windies batsman Lendl Simmons decided to bat with only his left pad. In the match between Guyana Amazon Warriors and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Simmons decided to discard the services of his right pad after the 12th over and batted the remaining 8 overs in an unusual style.
Even though Simmons was the highest run scorer in the innings, his 60 ball 50 was the slowest fifty made by a batsman in T20 cricket. Though there were other notable contributions in the match, but the biggest talking point of the match was Simmons deciding to bat with one pad. The spectators around the stadium were literally bemused seeing Simmons in this unusual avatar and even the TV audiences were left scratching their head and searching for answers.
#1 When Adam Gilchrist batted with a squash ball on his left glove
Most of the people remember Gilchrist using the squash ball during his belligerent innings of 149 against Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup Final but very few people know that Gilly started using the squash ball as a training device many years back before actually implementing it in an international match.
The idea of using the squash ball came from Gilly’s coach Bob Mueleman whose basic idea was to make Gilly take the bottom hand off the bat handle a little bit. He felt that if Gilchrist could control it with the top hand and not get the bottom hand too much it would allow him to have a better technique and better swing of the bat.
It was prior to the 2007 World Cup when Mueleman asked Gilchrist to try the method in a match. Gilly used it in a couple of matches in the Ashes series but never felt comfortable. It was like having a pebble in your shoes. Though it doesn’t stop you from doing what you want to do but at times it’s pretty annoying.
Gilchrist went into the World Cup and decided to stick to the method. He played all the matches in the group stage with the squash ball but was unable to score big. He failed miserably and decided to bat without the squash ball in the semi-final. He was knocked over in the 2nd ball of his innings for a duck and decided to use it again if they reached the Final.
In the Final, Gilchrist smoked the Sri Lankan bowlers all around the park and created the platform for the 3rd consecutive World Cup win for Australia. He finished with 149, an innings of the highest calibre which ensured Australia strolled to their 3rd consecutive World Cup title. Gilchrist acknowledged Mueleman’s unique method by showing his left glove after reaching his century.
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